BULLETIN No. 34

YORK EVENING DECORATIVE and FINE ARTS SOCIETY – APRIL 2016

Dear Member,

APOLOGY and INVITATION to GUESTS to ATTEND FREE in APRIL

Sorry that our advertised speaker was unable to give our March lecture. Unfortunately we heard on the Monday that Dr David Boyd Haycock was laid up with flu and unable to speak to us. I am most grateful to Lesley Murphy, our programme secretary, for finding a replacement speaker at such short notice, and to David Winpenny for stepping into the breach. We were delighted he was able to speak to us about Wentworth Woodhouse, which will have been of particular interest to the 34 members who are visiting on 14 April but, also provided an informed talk on the architectural and social context of the country house, an appetiser for the lecture on Castle Howard later in the year.

We were also very pleased to welcome 22 guests, some of whom have already decided to join us. I am delighted to say that we have re-booked Dr David Boyd Haycock but you will have to wait till next year to hear him. The purpose in offering free admission to guests is to encourage your friends to try us out and consider joining. After attending, we provide guests with a “welcome pack” and follow up with an e-mail. Not too intrusive, we hope, but informative and welcoming. We are offering the same arrangement for our April lecture so please bring other friends and those who might be interested if only they knew a bit more.

There will, of course, be an opportunity for you, if you have not done so already, to renew your subscription.

LECTURE on WEDNESDAY 13 APRIL – DUC de BERRY (John the Magnificent).

This should be a visual treat. Jean, Duc de Berry, was a collector of impeccable taste. You will have heard about “The Book of Hours” and may have seen in the British Museum the wonderful “Royal Gold Cup”. It is said that the Duc de Berry was decisive in the renewal of art in his time which included illustrated manuscripts and an interest in Notre Dame.

Our speaker, Shirley Smith, is an experienced adult lecturer working with the Board of Continuing Education at Cambridge. She is interested in art and architecture in the context of the society in which the work is created. She is published and an essay of hers on the fresco decoration in the Sistine Chapel can be found in “The Bible and the Arts”. See more about her and the Duc on our website www.yedfas.wordpress.com

Angel Scott has kindly agreed to chair the session. You will remember she got us to vote on the return of the Parthenon Marbles at a previous lecture. I do not know what she has in mind this time.

CAN YOU HELP ?

Your committee and other volunteers undertake a variety of tasks from serving wine, receiving you on arrival, looking after our speakers which do not require attendance at committee meetings. If you could help us with one or other of these tasks, it would be most welcome. Come and have a chat about it. Drop me an email at

APRE︡S TALK

Some of us like the idea of meeting up after the Wednesday talk for a bite to eat and a natter. We could go to a nearby restaurant, having booked a table beforehand. What do you think? Might some of you be interested? If so let Richard Drysdale know by 1st June, at and if there is sufficient interest we might fix it up for after the 8th June lecture.

OTHER EVENTS of INTEREST

Saturday 16 April, Friends of York Art Gallery host a conference in the Medical Society Rooms from 9.30 a.m. on “Tints, Tones and Textiles; an Exploration of Colour, Paints, Dyes and Materials.” More information from FYAG website www.friendsofyorkartgallery.co.uk

Monday 18 April, Jeremy Melius talks on “Sculpture from Behind” at The Bowland Auditorium, Berrick Saul Building, University of York at 5p.m. No charge.

Wednesday 20 April, Darrell Buttery talks and walks on “Shopping in 18 century York” From 10.30a.m. to 12 noon starting at York Assembly Rooms. Apply to York and East Yorkshire Art Fund.

Thursday 21 April, Richard Slocombe, senior curator at the Imperial War Museum, talks about the show at the York Art Gallery of British Art of the First World War, entitled “Truth and Memory”. From 6.30p.m. to 7.30p.m. at Tempest Anderson. £8 per person. www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk for details.

I look forward to seeing you and your guests on Wednesday 13 April at the Shepherd Hall.

Warmest Wishes

John Staples